When Victoria Beckham noticed that her husband David had developed a winning way, not just with her but with almost everyone else too, she came up with a wry nickname for him: Goldenballs. What billionaire’s daughter Akshata Murthy calls her husband Rishi Sunak within the confines of their family homes is anybody’s guess but there is no doubt that he is on a golden run of his own right now.
As his rivals to succeed Boris Johnson blow up — both Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and Home Secretary Priti Patel are currently subject to heavy speculation about imminent demotion — nobody seriously believes that Sunak’s position as Chancellor is in jeopardy.
Even though, over the summer, Johnson pondered aloud whether Sunak might not make an excellent health secretary in a joking-not-joking manner, the jibe was widely seen as an act of weakness from a PM rattled by his next-door neighbour’s burgeoning reputation rather than as a meaningful threat.
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